The Writer Story | featuring Author Julie Haworth
A conversation with Cosy Romance author, Julie Haworth, and Writerly ToDos
Hello and Welcome to the Writer Story!
Today we have a wonderful interview with Contemporary Romance author, Julie Haworth, followed by Writerly To Dos to help you inspire to continue writing.
Okay, let’s meet Julie Haworth
Here's Julie’s official bio.
With a degree in English and American Literature, Julie Haworth worked as an English teacher for a number of years, specialising in working with learners with literacy difficulties, before launching her own freelance copywriting business. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and her debut novel, Always By Your Side, which she wrote whilst recovering from Covid in 2020, won the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award in 2023.
Welcome Julie to the Writer Story. Congratulations on your new book pub - New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe, which is an absolutely delightful read. Would you tell our readers about it?
New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café tells the story of Tori who, after being dumped and left stranded by her long-term boyfriend Ryan on a trip of a lifetime to Asia, returns home to the sleepy Sussex village of Blossom Heath with her tail between her legs and her dreams shattered. Donning her frilly apron to help her Mum, Joyce, behind the counter at The Cosy Cup Café, Tori starts to believe – with the help of a hunky fireman and a clowder of rescue cats - that perhaps the secret to her future happiness might lie closer to home than she ever thought possible.
This is your 2nd book. Your debut novel Always By Your Side was also set in Blossom Heath, Sussex too, which all reads so cosy and idyllic and makes me want to holiday there. Is Blossom Heath a real place or you based it on somewhere else? What would be your advice to tie the setting in a seamless way into the story because I loved the way you have done that?
Blossom Heath is a fictional village, but it’s located just outside of Rye in East Sussex, which is a real place. I’ve spent lots of time in Rye over the years as it’s where my partner grew up and he still has family there, so the rolling hills of Sussex definitely helped to inspire the setting for both novels. There are also scenes in both books where the characters wander the cobbled streets of Rye and I definitely took my inspiration from my visits. If you’ve never been before do go, it really is a magical place. In terms of tying the setting into the story, I think it’s just a case of immersing yourself in the world you’re creating and trying to take the reader on that journey with you. I’ve got a clear picture in my head of how I imagine the village of Blossom Heath, so I’m really pleased to hear that comes across.
In both your books, you have created this wonderful cast of characters and built the sense of community around them making even the secondary/tertiary characters seem real and vivid. How to you do that?
A strong sense of community is at the heart of both stories. I think the way the characters interact with each other throughout the novel helps to create that, everyone in Blossom Heath has a role to play, even the supporting characters, they all have something to offer the story overall and help drive the plot forward. Everyone has something interesting in their backstory too, which I think helps us feel connected to the characters and want to cheer them on.
Our readers always love to know about the writer journey, the origin story. Would you please share your writing and publishing journey? How you started? How you got your agent and the book deal?
I started writing Always By Your Side in quite unusual circumstances. In March 2020 I contracted Covid-19 five days before the first UK lockdown. It was a scary time but I remember thinking ‘once I’m better, I’m starting that novel’ and that’s exactly what I did! The writing process was such a lifeline during the various lockdowns that were to come and Rose and Jake’s story in the village of Blossom Heath became the perfect place to retreat to. By October 2020 I had my first draft completed and I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme (NWS) in January 2021. The chance to submit to Simon & Schuster came up in the February via the Digital Originals One Day submission partnership with the RNA. I’d just received my NWS feedback report and I decided to take the plunge and send the submission email to Simon & Schuster. I never expected to hear anything back and I was amazed when they asked for my full manuscript and eventually went on to offer me a publishing contract for Always By Your Side. It really was a dream come true! When Always By Your Side won the RNA’s Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award for 2023, I started to look for an agent and signed with Laura Macdougall at United Agents.
What is your writing and editing process? Has it changed since you started writing? Do you have any writing quirks you’d like to share?
I don’t really have a clearly structured writing day mapped out. I run my own copywriting business, so my fiction writing has to be quite flexible and fit in around my client work. I really like having the variety of writing in different formats, one day it can be all about my latest book and the next I’m back to working on client projects. The downside is that when I’m busy writing for clients, I might not have a chance to do anything book related for a few weeks and it can be quite tricky to pick up where I left off! It can take some time to get my head back in the story and remember where I was planning to take things next. I’d say to get a first draft together takes me somewhere between six to eight months, I’m not a planner so the story tends to develop as I’m writing, it’s almost like I need to start writing to figure out what comes next. Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do on the novel after that point! There’s usually an initial structural edit before moving on to copy edits, line edits and then the final proof-reading stage.
What advice do you have for writers who are in the beginning stages of the publishing journey? Or any words of caution?
Never give up!! Becoming a published author doesn’t have to be an impossible dream, it is something that can happen, no matter how unlikely you think it is. Keep submitting, keep writing and keep going! If you love writing, just keep doing it!
What is next for you? Are you working on something else? What can you tell us about it without any spoilers?
I’m currently working on another book set in Blossom Heath featuring a brand-new character and I also have some ideas for standalone projects too, so watch this space! My aim is to become a career author if I can, so in an ideal world it would be wonderful if I could give up the day job and concentrate on my writing career full time.
And finally, where can we find you online?
You can find me on Instagram @juliehaworthauthor or X/Twitter @jhaworthauthor
Thanks Julie for the interview. If you want to check out Julie’s cosy romantic book, check out here.
Writerly TO-DOs
To Read :
This wonderful article from The Forever Workshop about how to get into Reese’s Litup fellowship and how it works. Click here.
To Listen :
If you are not aware of Arabian Nights, here’s something you must listen to.
To Watch :
The wonderful, Alexa Donne, made a video on her youtube about why your agent isn’t your friend and why you should consider the agent-author relationship to be a professional one.
To Write :
Write something describing the nature. Go for a hike and write down what you see in front of you. Use the best language and prose you are capable of. Then you get home, shower and do whatever priority items on your list. Once you are done for the day and your mind is quieting down, check out what you have written down about the nature. Try to see how much you are able to picture just from the writing and what you missed in the prose.
That’s all for today.
Thanks for reading The Writer Story. You can find me on social media - Twitter/X - @authoranima or Instagram - @authoranima
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Until next week,
~Toodle-oo~
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